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Press Releases & Announcements

Monday, June 15, 2009

TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant today announced that the APM Group (APMG), the official ITIL accreditation body, has launched a new, complementary ITIL certification for IT practitioners interested in the creation and maintenance of a best practice Service Catalog.

This summer, a full and rigorous accreditation process will take place, involving independent trial deliveries of a Service Catalog course that will cover the key learning requirements Pink Elephant and newScale have identified. Once the Service Catalog certification scheme is finalized and released in September 2009, authorized training organizations (ATOs) may then develop and submit their own training materials for accreditation.

Further, the new course will qualify for 1.5 ITIL V3 credits, and will become only the 2nd course recognized in ITIL V3’s Complementary Guidance, a selection of best practice courses intended to supplement the content that currently exists in ITIL V3’s core portfolio of examinations and certifications.

“The Service Catalog is a cornerstone of IT service management, and Pink was the first company to offer a practitioner-based course that explains how to accurately identify and describe services available to the IT organization’s customers,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “We’re especially pleased that APMG has acknowledged the need for a Service Catalog certification, and we’re excited to move forward in bringing this to the industry in the very near future.”

About Pink Elephant
Pink Elephant is proud to be celebrating 20 years of ITIL experience – more than any other service provider. Operating through many offices across the globe, the company is the world’s #1 provider of ITIL and ITSM conferences, education and consulting services. To date, more than 200,000 IT professionals have benefited from Pink Elephant’s expertise. Pink Elephant has been championing the growth of ITIL worldwide since its inception in 1989, and was selected as an international expert to contribute to the ITIL V3 project as authors of the Continual Service Improvement book and through representation on the International Exam Panel. For more information, please visit www.pinkelephant.com

ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Pink Elephant Revises ITIL Course Titles

Company Pushes For Greater Clarity Around Job Roles In Certification Scheme

Pink Elephant today announced plans to clarify titles of its ITIL version three (V3) Intermediate courses to better reflect the roles individuals perform in organizations, and to help guide IT professionals along the most appropriate education path in the ITIL certification scheme.

While official titles for the ITIL certifications exist, authorized training organizations like Pink Elephant may decide on their own course branding. Pink Elephant has revised the titles of the ITIL Intermediates to align to specific functional areas in IT – Manager or Practitioner:

“Based on customer feedback, it became clear to us that the ‘Capability’ and ‘Lifecycle’ labels were ineffective in describing who the courses were aimed at,” says David Ratcliffe, President of Pink Elephant. “Adding to this confusion is a complex certification scheme that allows for the mixing and matching of V2 and V3 courses to earn credits – but with rules describing limitations because of content overlap.”

“To simplify things, our recommendation for those seeking the ITIL Expert certification is to focus on the ITIL Manager path – where you will gain the widest breadth of ITIL knowledge and gain all the credits you’ll need. For those who need education to support a specific project or tactical role – choose the individual ITIL Practitioner courses.”

View Pink Elephant’s Personal Development Path for a complete picture of recommended ITIL education for various IT roles – from coordinator/analyst to CIO.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Christopher Gardner Returning To Pink Elephant’s 2010 Conference

TORONTO, ON – Christopher Gardner, whose life story was the subject of Oscar nominated film The Pursuit of Happyness, will be returning as a keynote speaker at Pink Elephant’s next annual conference, February 21-24, 2010 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

In 2007, Mr. Gardner shared his highly inspirational life story – Pursuit Of Happyness. Starring Will Smith, the movie and Chris’ keynote conveyed his never-give-up, strong willed determination to succeed after he was left homeless and single with a young child.

Start Where You Are is Chris Gardner’s new book and features Chris’ latest practical advice and philosophies about life’s lessons. If you’ve had the rug pulled out from under you, have been dealing with the loss of a job or a home, have had a health or financial crisis, or simply can’t find the motivation to pursue new challenges, Start Where You Are abounds with lessons that offer hope and provide a road map for starting anew. This is also the ideal book for anyone ready to launch a personal or professional undertaking, or someone who simply wants to break through the cycles and thinking that have limited his or her potential in the past.

“Mr. Gardner will share his story about faith, entrepreneurship and determination in the face of unimaginable obstacles during our conference’s opening ceremonies, surely setting an uplifting tone for the remainder of this event,” says Pink Elephant VP and conference chair George Spalding. “His message is inspiring, especially today, not only to the business community at large but also to each of us as individuals.”

The IT Service Management Conference is the world’s largest event dedicated to IT best practices and attracts thousands of IT practitioners and top software vendors each year. Complementing the vast line-up of presentations from international IT directors, top business school professors, service management gurus and Pink Elephant’s own consultants is a provocative set of motivational speakers.

For conference details, visit Pink Elephant’s website. For more information or to register, call 1-888-273-7465 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pink Elephant Expands Foundations Certification Options

BURLINGTON, ON – Pink Elephant today announced the introduction of two online ITIL V3 Foundations courses and additional enhancements to its traditional classroom courses.

The two new ITIL V3 Foundations courses are:

ITIL V3 Foundations Self-Paced Online

- Available June 1, 2009
- Time efficient – learn and get certified anytime, anywhere and at your own pace
- Secure – unique sign-on assures that only you track your course progress and sample exam results
- Best value – US$475 per seat (volume discounts available on request); no travel and accommodation costs

ITIL V3 Foundations Instructor-Led Online

- Available June 22, 2009
- Interactive – benefit from the experience of a highly certified Pink expert in a secure, live online environment over 4 days
- Convenient dates scheduled regularly through the year in regional time zones
- Competitively priced – US$1,495 per seat (volume discounts available on request); no travel and accommodation costs

These offerings complement the traditional classroom courses Pink Elephant have delivered since the organization developed the world’s first ITIL course in 1992.

In further effort to enable a continual learning experience for all of its customers, Pink Elephant is also offering three added-value components at no additional charge:

- The Self-Paced Online course is available to all Pink Elephant customers for 12 months following the completion of any ITIL V3 Foundations course.

- A new PinkEXPERT feature provides further guidance and support from the organization’s expert consulting team for 12 months following the completion of any ITIL V3 Foundations course.

- Membership of PinkFORUM, a new online community connecting course participants to their peers and other experts in the industry.

“We believe that an education investment must result in practical and measurable improvements back at the workplace,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “That’s why we want to provide all Foundations customers with an ongoing support network to help them identify improvement opportunities for the benefit of their organization. For example, even though the online Foundations course takes about four days to complete, having free access to it for a full year, as well as interaction with our expert Consultants and their industry peers, allows participants to regularly review key concepts and drive continual improvements.”

Pink Elephant will continue to schedule courses publicly in major cities, and offer companies onsite training for IT staff to maximize training budgets. Special discounts are available for public and onsite education. View more information.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Pink Elephant Named One Of Canada’s Top IT Companies

BURLINGTON, ON – April 17, 2009 – Pink Elephant today announced it was named one of Canada’s top 300 technology companies in the Branham300. Entering its 16th year, the Branham300 highlights leading Canadian and multinational IT companies operating in Canada and is widely considered to be a leading source of intelligence on Canada’s IT industry.

The Branham300 consists of the following major categories, ranked by revenue:

Other than the multinational listing, to qualify for the Branham300 the company must be founded in Canada with headquarters remaining in Canada, and have corporate direction determined in Canada.

Pink Elephant was ranked in the top 250 category. Headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, Pink Elephant operates in regions globally, providing IT Service Management (ITSM) consulting and education to organizations of all sizes and industries. The company also presents the world’s largest ITSM conference and exhibition annually in Las Vegas.

Pink Elephant is recognized as a progressive and successful company and, in addition to the Branham300, is the recipient of several other awards that reflect its corporate leadership excellence and business results:
• Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada – Awarded annually by PROFIT Magazine
• Top 100 Woman Entrepreneurs – Awarded to Pink Elephant CEO, Fatima Cabral, by PROFIT magazine
• Ontario Global Traders Award – Awarded by the Ontario Government for achievements in innovation, leadership, product excellence and expansion into new markets

About Pink Elephant
Pink Elephant is proud to be celebrating 20 years of ITIL experience – more than any other supplier. Operating through many offices across the globe, the company is the world’s #1 supplier of ITIL and ITSM conferences, education and consulting services. To date, more than 200,000 IT professionals have benefited from Pink Elephant’s expertise. Pink Elephant has been championing the growth of ITIL worldwide since its inception in 1989, and was selected as an international expert to contribute to the ITIL V3 project as authors of the Continual Service Improvement book and through representation on the International Exam Panel. For more information, please visit www.pinkelephant.com.

About Branham Group
Branham Group is a leading industry analyst and strategic consulting firm servicing the global information technology marketplace. Branham Group assists information technology companies and related institutions in achieving market success through its custom consulting services (Planning, Marketing and Partnering), and through its multi-client research subscription programs (eHealth, Outsourcing, Green IT and Wireless). Branham also produces an annual listing of the top information technology companies in Canada (www.branham300.com), tracks the Canadian Outsourcing industry (www.branhamoutsourcing.com) and monitors over 450 eHealth vendors. For more information regarding Branham Group, please visit www.branhamgroup.com.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

14th Annual Conference Promises More ITIL Case Studies

‘Good To Great’ Theme Will Showcase Best-Of-The-Best IT Departments

TORONTO, ON – March 17, 2009 – At less than a month after the 13th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas that drew nearly 2,000 attendees, Pink Elephant today announced plans for the next conference, returning to the Bellagio from February 21-24, 2010.

The next event, themed Good To Great: How To Use ITIL & ITSM To Make The Leap, borrows from Jim Collins’ world-renowned best selling business book, Good To Great, that describes how companies transition from being average companies to great companies, and how some fail to succeed in that transition.

“More IT leaders than ever before will share key leadership, management, and business factors that have produced high performing IT teams, satisfied customers, and reduced costs,” says conference chair and Pink’s VP of Global Events, George Spalding. “This knowledge is critical now, as more companies are looking for ways to tackle the challenges of our economy. That’s why we have chosen a theme that is timely and appropriate.”

Recently, several of Pink’s long-standing customers, also past conference presenters, were featured in major industry articles, highlighting IT best practices as a business value-add.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Pink Elephant Announces ITIL Award Winners

TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant today announced the winners of the ITIL Awards, presented at the recent 13th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition.

The awards honor the best in five categories: ITIL Project of the Year; ITIL Practitioner of the Year; ITIL Case Study of the Year; Pink Elephant Student of the Year; and Innovation of the Year.

ITIL Project of the Year: This is presented to a practitioner organization that has shown a significant commitment to ITIL. The organization must have a clearly defined project with dedicated management; a project start date occurring at least six months before the conference commences; clearly documented and communicated goals; high involvement from ITIL-certified staff; and measurable project benefits.

The winner of this year’s award is OhioHealth – Access Management.

ITIL Practitioner of the Year: ITIL Practitioner of the Year goes to an IT practitioner who has placed best practices at the core of their organization’s IT operations. This individual has also championed the strategic benefits of ITIL and shown a commitment to sharing knowledge about ITIL inside and outside their organization.

The winner of this year’s award is Henry White, Director, IT Global Operations and Excellence in Operations for Cisco Systems, Inc.

ITIL Case Study of the Year: This award is probably one of the most prestigious, because it is chosen by conference attendees. During the conference, Pink Elephant tabulates evaluation results from all the ITIL case studies. The award is given to the individual who delivered the most compelling session and received the highest score.

This award was presented to Pete Corrigan, VP of Infrastructure Services for Allstate Insurance. Allstate is also past winner of the Project of the Year award. In his session, ITIL: From Strategy To Execution, Pete shared how he and his team successfully achieved increased availability, reliability and maintainability through adoption of ITIL’s service framework.

Pink Elephant Student of the Year: This is presented to the Pink student with the highest exam score in the ITIL Service Manager course. Successful completion of the course requires a high level of commitment and a demonstrated knowledge of the goals, benefits, challenges and integration points of the ITIL processes.

There was a tie for this year’s award and the winners are John Daly, Project Manager for Cisco Systems, Inc. and Monica Dragan, Business and Process Architect for CGI.

Innovation of the Year: This award recognizes a product or service developed by the vendor community that has made the greatest contribution to IT Service Management in the last calendar year.

This award was presented to Digital Fuel for Service Flow version 6.

“For years, Pink Elephant has worked diligently to increase awareness of ITIL’s best practice framework on a global scale,” says George Spalding, Pink Elephant Vice President. “Part of this work has included the introduction of an awards program to further illustrate and promote ITIL’s benefits. While competition was fierce, this year’s winners truly exemplify the best ITIL has to offer. Congratulations to all.”

Nominations are now being accepted for the next awards, presented at the 14th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition, taking place February 21-24, 2010 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

A nomination form is available on Pink Elephant’s website and must be submitted by December 11, 2009. Case study proposals are also being accepted. For more information about the 2010 conference, click here or call 1-888-273-PINK.

ITIL’s popularity in a maturing industry is partly due to greater awareness of how process improvement supports fiscal responsibility. Clearer evidence of ITIL’s ROI, and greater visibility of processes that directly relate to cost management is a key enhancement in ITIL version three (V3), published in 2007:
• Service Strategy book: The Financial Management process describes cost effective ways to manage IT budgets and charge for services. This lifecycle phase also describes an approach for Risk Management that can reveal costly vulnerabilities, and assist IT managers with better decision-making
• Continual Service Improvement book: The Seven-Step Improvement Process describes an approach for measuring IT services, taking corrective action, and building better service as a result of improvement efforts. Data coming out of this process can uncover opportunities for cost control. Building better service can also help the business justify IT costs, and can boost funding for further process improvement projects

Read more examples of how real companies have saved money and built better IT infrastructures using ITIL.

Read more on why now is a crucial time for building a process-based approach to IT, from one of Pink’s most senior IT management consultants, Troy DuMoulin.

“With the current economic challenges many organizations are facing, you could say that ITIL’s time has come,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “Almost everyday we’re seeing news outlets and industry analysts commenting on how frameworks like ITIL are essential for delivering IT services efficiently in troubled times. And, with the encouraging attendance at our annual conference, clearly many IT organizations and practitioners are already getting the message!”

For more information about Pink Elephant’s 13th Annual Conference, taking place February 21-25, 2009 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas:

About Pink Elephant
Pink Elephant is proud to be celebrating 20 years of ITIL experience – more than any other supplier. Operating through many offices across the globe, the company is the world’s #1 supplier of ITIL and ITSM conferences, education and consulting services. To date, more than 100,000 IT professionals have benefited from Pink Elephant’s expertise. Pink Elephant has been championing the growth of ITIL worldwide since its inception in 1989, and was selected as an international expert to contribute to the ITIL V3 project as authors of the Continual Service Improvement book and through representation on the International Exam Panel. For more information, please visit www.pinkelephant.com

ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.

“In recognizing the economic downturn, and in keeping with the spirit of the season, we want to help those who cannot attend our event because of cost constraints and budget cutbacks,” says Pink Elephant President, David Ratcliffe. “We are committed to supporting our customers’ continual learning and ITSM project momentum, and are offering them a cost effective way to attend the world’s largest ITIL conference – in return for their many years of support to Pink Elephant.”

Conference registrants have two options to receive free accommodation:

• New registrants: Pay the full conference fee (US$1,995) and get three free nights of accommodation at the Bellagio (February 22-24)

• Existing registrants: Those who have already registered through one of the early bird discounts can “buy up”, pay the difference for the full conference fee, and get three free nights

The hotel offer expires January 12, 2009, and the conference fee is non-refundable in the event of a cancellation or no-show.

About The Conference

Pink Elephant’s IT Service Management Conference & Exhibition is the largest event dedicated to IT best practices – and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) specifically. The 2009 event will include:

Friday, December 12, 2008

TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant today announced the launch of PinkBOOKCASE, an online library of 100 full-text books and 100 “quick study” videos that IT executives, managers and department staff can use to accelerate the acquisition of soft skills; increase business knowledge; and sharpen management acumen in support of ITSM projects.

“Our extensive experience, backed by research with our own customers, tells us that ITSM projects need more than just good tools and processes to achieve favorable outcomes,” says Pink Elephant President, David Ratcliffe. “Soft skills such as communication, team building and conflict resolution are also critical – that’s why we’re introducing PinkBOOKCASE.”

The library is hand-picked by Pink Elephant’s own experts, taking the guesswork out of what skills are vital for ITSM project success. Further, the low, annual subscription fee (US$450) removes the significant effort and expense of seeking out and purchasing the titles separately.

Leveraging the vast online database from Books24x7, a leading supplier of business and technology learning materials, PinkBOOKCASE features titles from respected business leaders and CIOs, including featured presenters at Pink’s annual conference; and from trusted publishers such as Harvard Business School Press, MIT Press, and McGraw-Hill Osborne. Subscribers also have the ability to search, browse and view every word, graphic, and table in the books, and build a personal “favorites” repository for future reference.

To teach at the ITIL V3 Intermediate level or higher, instructors must possess certification for the actual course itself and the ITIL Expert – the highest level of ITIL certification currently available. Nearly 100% of Pink Elephant’s worldwide training staff are ITIL Experts.

Pink Elephant currently offers the following ITIL V3 Intermediates publicly or in-house:

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant today announced the keynote speaker lineup for the 13th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition, taking place February 22-25, 2009 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Named one of the Top 20 Professors of the Century at UCLA, Moshe F. Rubinstein is highly esteemed for his insights, expertise, and ability to infuse organizations with tools for decision making and innovation. He is a consultant to major corporations, a celebrated author of eight bestselling problem solving books, and has been invited to lecture all over the world.

In this keynote session, he will use his very engaging and passionate style to highlight how and why people and their social networks are the most important assets in organizations. In the past, capital and labor were critical for success; today it is human creativity, innovation, and collaboration that lead people to achieve the extraordinary. Using the power of a storyhe will show how great leaders bring the future to the present and conquer uncertainty; inspire people with a compelling noble purpose; create an environment for collaborative value; and evoke passion to permit the human spirit to soar!

Nicholas CarrThe Big Switch

Nicholas Carr is a renowned author and IT expert whose 2004 book, Does IT Matter?, ignited a global quarrel about the strategic importance of IT in business. One of the highest rated keynotes from Pink’s 2005 conference, Nick is back with The Big Switch, a sweeping, and some say, often disturbing look at how a new computer revolution is reshaping business, society and culture. Telling his story in a lucid, engaging style, Nicholas weaves together history, economics and technology to describe how and why computers are changing – and what it means for all of us. From the software business to the newspaper business, from job creation to community formation, from national defense to personal identity, The Big Switch provides a panoramic view of the new world being conjured from the circuits of the “World Wide Computer“.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Pink Elephant CEO Named One Of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs For 8th Year In A Row

TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant today announced that Fatima Cabral, CEO, captured the 22nd spot in the PROFIT W100, the country’s largest annual celebration of entrepreneurial achievement by women. Ms. Cabral has appeared consecutively on the W100 since 2001.

The PROFIT W100 ranks Canada’s most successful female business owners by their firms’ annual revenue. The results are published in the November 2008 issue of PROFIT: Your Guide To Business Success and online at http://www.profitmagazine.ca/.

“This achievement serves as a testament to the commitment of our people,” says Ms. Cabral. “Our success is due to superior customer service, strong marketing and sales, and great employees. As a team we strive for continuous growth, and acknowledgements like this confirm that we are on the right track. We are very proud to be recognized.”

“Canada’s top women entrepreneurs are stronger than ever,” says Ian Portsmouth, Editor of PROFIT. “They’ve continued to grow profitable companies by investing in their people and products while developing new and better ways to do business.”

About PROFIT Magazine

PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success is Canada’s preeminent publication dedicated to the management issues and opportunities facing small and mid-sized businesses. For more than 25 years, Canadian entrepreneurs across a vast array of economic sectors have remained loyal to PROFIT because it’s a timely and reliable source of actionable information that helps them increase their revenues, boost their profitability and get the recognition they deserve for generating positive economic and social change. Published six times a year by Rogers Publishing Ltd., PROFIT is distributed almost exclusively to the chief executives of companies with 5 – 250 employees and annual revenue of $1 million to $25 million, reaching more than 300,000 readers across Canada. Visit PROFIT online at http://www.PROFITmagazine.ca.

Friday, October 17, 2008

ITIL Award Nominations Due December 12, 2008

Winners To Be Announced At Pink’s Annual Conference In Las Vegas, February 2009

TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant is accepting nominations for the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Awards, presented at the company’s 13th annual conference, February 22-25, 2009 in Las Vegas. There are five award categories that recognize exceptional organizational or individual commitment to ITIL best practices.

Nominations are open until December 12, 2008 for three of the five awards: ITIL Project of the Year; ITIL Practitioner of the Year; and ITIL Innovation of the Year. Pink Elephant’s executive team selects the award winners based on the following criteria:

1) ITIL Project of the Year
This award is presented to an organization that has:

2) ITIL Practitioner of the Year
This award is presented to an individual who:

- Shows significant commitment to ITIL best practices
- Began ITIL involvement at least 6 months before the conference start date
- Is committed to sharing knowledge about ITIL outside of employer organization
- Works for a practitioner organization

3) ITIL Innovation of the Year
This award recognizes a product or service developed by the vendor community that has made the greatest contribution to IT Service Management in the last calendar year.

Two additional awards require no nomination, as they are determined prior to or during the conference. Pink Elephant Student of the Year is given to the Pink student with the highest exam score in the ITIL Service Manager course. Conference attendees select the winner of the ITIL Case Study of the Year out of all the practitioner case studies presented. The most compelling case study with the highest session evaluation score is chosen as the winner.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Pink Elephant Now Offering 10% Public Education Discount In Southeast Asia For Early Registration

KUALA LUMPUR – Pink Elephant, the world’s largest provider of IT management education, conferences and strategic consulting, today announced a new preferred pricing plan for all public courses scheduled in Southeast Asia.

Students qualify for a 10% discount off regular course fees, excluding taxes, when registration and payment is received no less than 30 days prior to the course start date.

“Our instructors are highly experienced ITIL-certified members of Pink’s consulting team,” says Pink Elephant President, David Ratcliffe. “We hope that this unique discount will allow more of our customers in Southeast Asia to learn about the benefits of process improvement, while earning valuable certifications and credits within the ITIL qualification scheme.”

While the 10% discount does not apply to in-house education, Pink Elephant can present all of its courses at a customer location, and with a team-training approach cost and time savings is typical, in addition to these other benefits:

• The highest pass rates in the industry
• Direct access to the industry’s best ITIL consultants and trainers
• An excellent team-building exercise
• A well-planned, company-specific approach to consistent knowledge building